The authorities of Hathazari Madrasa, the stronghold of the radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, have kept hold of one acre of land worth Tk15 crore, owned by Bangladesh Railway, even after being refused the lease three years back.
The railway authorities turned down their application since the rules do not permit the leasing of the 0.8 acre railway pond and the 0.2 acre of agriculture land on the Station Road area to anyone who does not have land adjacent to the location.
Later the madrasa challenged the refusal at a court which has yet to be settled. Recently, they bought a piece of land beside the pond to fulfil the lease requirements.
During a visit, the Dhaka Tribune correspondent saw a tin-shed house beside the pond in which the rooms are being rented out to shops and for residence. Moreover, there is an under-construction semi-pucca establishment.
A signboard placed there by the madrasa authorities after the rejection reads: “Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam is the possessing owner of these 2.64 acres of agricultural land and the pond, with the permission of the honourable communications minister.”
When contacted, former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain said he had never made any such commitment to the Hathazari Madrasa authorities.
Local sources say one katha of land is being sold at Tk25 lakh in the area. Therefore, the price of the encroached land stands at around Tk15 crore.
Abdul Bari, assistant estate officer at the railway’s East Zone, said the madrasa authorities have encroached on the pond by placing a signboard and putting up pillars. They also encroached on 0.2 acres of agricultural land that belongs to the railway.
According to the railway sources, Shah Ahmed Shafi, chief of Hefazat and director of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam (better known as Hathazari Madrasa), had applied for the pond, an agricultural land of 1.86 acre and an abandoned building on 0.1 acre of land on August 16, 2010.
The railway headquarters had formed a committee to submit a report on the application after scrutiny said Mohammed Kamrul Amin, chief estate officer at the East Zone, to the Dhaka Tribune.
“The committee, in its report submitted on February 17, 2011, observed that a section of the guideline on leasing out railway land will have to be amended to lease the land to the madrasa authorities,” he said.
The Office of the Director General had rejected the application on receiving the report and the madrasa authorities were informed about it in a letter sent on July 13, 2011.
“We have already served a notice to the madrasa authorities to vacate the farm land while the process is underway to reclaim the pond,” Kamrul said.
Azizul Hoque Islamabadi, organising secretary of Hefazat, said they had applied for the lease and kept it “protected by putting the pillars” since the process was yet to be completed.
He claimed that they were neither using the land nor had they erected any structure on it.
“There are about 14,000 students and the madrasa authorities have been bearing their expenses. We hope that the railway authorities will lease the land to us immediately considering the welfare of these people,” said Azizul, who is also a teacher at the Qawmi madrasa.
Railway sources said they had earlier sold out 1.6 acres of land at the market rate to the Hathazari Madrasa on March 15, 1993 and 1.31 acres of agricultural land was leased out on October 26, 1992.
